England Riots threaten Premier League kick-off

England Riots have put the opening weekend of Premier League fixtures in doubt.

With the recent called off England-Netherlands match at Wembley was, as were four Carling Cup ties in London and a friendly between Ghana and Nigeria in Watford on Tuesday due to the riots.

The Premier League and Football League issued a joint statement on Tuesday evening, saying: "With the information currently available to us there is no reason to think any matches outside of London will be affected.” But the overnight violence in Manchester, the West Midlands, Nottingham and Gloucester could force a rethink.

Despite a quiet night in the capital following an increased police presence, it is thought the three London fixtures - Tottenham v Everton, Fulham v Aston Villa and QPR v Bolton - are at greatest risk. The area of Tottenham witnessed disturbing scenes at the weekend and the club's players have said they would not oppose the postponement of their match against Everton.

"I was really surprised by what happened in Tottenham. We don't know whether we will be able to play this Saturday, as the riots are spreading across London. They look like they're getting pretty serious.” Younes Kaboul

Rafael Van der Vaart added: "I ask myself whether the league matches at the weekend will be able to go ahead. Right now, I can't imagine it. "I saw the TV pictures from London and the chaos there at present is unbelievable. With things as they are, there is simply no way to organise a big international match safely. My wife Sylvie is over in England but I've not phoned her. Thankfully, everything is okay. It has remained calm where we live."

The Metropolitan Police will have the final decision over the London games, and say they will monitor the situation over the next 48 hours. England captain Andrew Strauss said: " Our security manager is there for a reason and he has to decide if it is safe for us to play cricket and at the moment he says it's 100 percent safe. We don't feel unsafe."

Meanwhile, Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson tried to calm fears that next summer's Games in London could be affected.

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